It is my pleasure to open 2006 by welcoming Professor Oya Alpar to join me as Joint Editor-in-Chief. She has been active in microencapsulation since the early 1980s and is now Director of the Centre for Drug Delivery Research at the School of Pharmacy, University of London.
As you can guess, this appointment is the first stage in my stepping down from the position which I took over from Joe Nixon in 1994.
The Founding Editors of the Journal, Joe Nixon, Lou Luzzi and Tam Kondo have all been delighted to see the continuing development and success of the Journal from four issues per year in 1984 to eight issues currently with an increasing Impact Factor (up to 1.49).
My special thanks to the Regional Editors Yoshiaka Kawashima and Hossein Zia.
Both Oya and myself welcome the new members of the Board and thank the continuing members for their ongoing support. The rapidly expanding publishers, Taylor & Francis, are thanked for their help and support.
The 15th International Symposium on Microencapsulation held in Parma, Italy in September was a great success, with ∼300 attendees and ∼200 papers and posters. Thanks go to Paolo Colombo and his team for fine organization and wonderful hospitality. The 16th Symposium will be hosted by Patrick DeLuca in Lexington, Kentucky, USA from 9–12 September 2007.
We wish all the readership a happy and prosperous 2006.